11

EPOV

I woke up the next morning before the sun was even up behind the clouds. I should say that I decided to stop trying to sleep then because I didn't get any sleep last night. I replayed Bella's words through my head all night. The look on her face was on the front of my mind all night. How could she think she was responsible for killing her parents? All that would have happened if she had tried to help is that they probably would have raped and killed her too.

I shook my head as I climbed off my bed and pulled on a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt. I pulled on my running shoes and grabbed my iPod. I quietly made my way out of the apartment after leaving a note for Esme telling her where I went. I doubt she would be very happy about waking up with me gone.

I made my way down stairs and set my iPod to my favorite play list before I started running. Bella was not at all like she seemed on the outside. True, she is tough as nails and can be quite a bitch sometimes, but deep down, where she doesn't let anyone in, she's just a girl who is hurting. A girl, who has worked hard to put up a wall of defense to keep those closest to her from getting hurt. Yet, for some reason, she let me in.

"Are you stalking me?" asked Bella, pulling my ear bud from my ear. I looked over and smiled as she fell into step with me.

"Nope," I smiled. "Just out enjoying the dreary cold."

"Yeah, it's lovely, isn't it?" snorted Bella. "I hate it here. I miss the heat."

"I miss the dry weather," I laughed as we slowed down to a walk. "You're out kind of early."

"My brothers were pissing me off," shrugged Bella.

"They care about you," I pointed out. "Carlisle actually told me not to hurt you yesterday."

"Why am I not surprised," muttered Bella. "Esme give you shit last night?"

"No, but I kind of avoided her," I admitted.

"Aw, avoidance, the game the whole family can play," laughed Bella. She bit her lip and looked away from me. "About what I told you last night…"

"I'm not telling anyone until you tell me it's ok, including Esme," I said. Bella sighed and looked back at me.

"Thank you, Edward. I'm just not comfortable with people knowing about that night," whispered Bella.

"Not a problem, Bella. That's what friends do, right?" I asked.

"Right," smiled Bella.

Bella and I turned back and headed back the other way. She waved as she left me at mine and Esme's apartment building. I headed up and found Esme sitting at the kitchen table, tapping her nails on the table again. This couldn't be good. She looked up at me and sighed.

"Sit," she ordered. I barely stopped myself from rolling my eyes at her as I went over and sat down across from her. "I don't think you and Bella should be friends."

"Too fucking bad," I said, folding my arms in front of my chest.

"Edward, there is something off about that girl," hissed Esme. "I don't know what it is but she's trouble. In the week since school started, you've cut school and gotten into a fight. That's not like you."

"So fucking what, Esme," I snapped. "Bella is not to blame for any of that. She's my friend, the only friend I've ever had. Why can't you understand that?"

"I do, Edward. Of all people, I understand about keeping people at arms length so you don't get hurt but what if she physically hurts you?"

"She won't," I insisted.

"She might," snapped Esme. "I've heard the rumors, ok?"

"What rumors?" I asked, feigning ignorance.

"Don't play dumb with me, Eddie," sneered Esme. "I can read you better than that."

"She didn't kill them," I said. "I can't tell you any more than that because Bella asked me not to but she didn't kill her parents."

"Are you sure about that?" asked Esme.

"Yes," I replied. "Look, Esme, I'll admit that Bella is a bitch. I'll admit that she's mean, rude, and hateful sometimes but besides the fact that she's probably one of the best boxers I've ever seen, she let me in. She needs me as a friend just as much as I need her. Please, don't make me choose between my sister and the only friend I have ever had."

"That's not fair," sighed Esme.

"Who said any of this was fair?" I asked.

"Fine, Edward, I won't stand in the way of your friendship with Bella, but I will be watching her very closely."

"Fair enough," I said. "Is there anything else or can I go get ready for school?"

"That's all I have but you might need to check your email. I'm sure Mom and Dad sent you something," smirked Esme.

"You fucking told them about the fight, didn't you?" I grumbled, standing up.

"Yep," said Esme, popping the 'p'. I rolled my eyes and headed into my room. "Real mature, Eddie."

"Fuck off, Essie," I yelled.

I went over to my desk and opened my laptop. I logged onto my email and sure enough there was an email from my father. Never a good sign.

To: Edward Masen Jr.
Subject: Fighting?
From: Edward Masen Sr.

Edward,

You know what I am going to say but I'm going to say it anyway. Fighting at school is incredibly stupid and dangerous. I didn't teach you how to box so you would go to school and get into fights. Now, Esme has explained that you were defending yourself but it's still not like you to fight back. You could have really hurt those boys. Was it a mistake to let you move in with Esme?

Your mother and I are very concerned about this incident and if we hear of another one, your ass will be coming to Italy. Understood? On a side note, did you at least beat the crap out of them?

I miss you, Son.

Dad

To: Edward Masen Sr.
Subject: re: fighting?
From: Edward Masen Jr.

Dad,

No, it was not a mistake for me to move in with Esme. I'm not sorry for defending myself or my friend. Yes, I said I have a friend. Those boys were making rude comments about her and I couldn't stand there and let them badmouth her. When he threw a sucker punch at me, I had no choice but to defend myself. What would you have done if you heard someone call Mom or Esme a whore? That's what I thought.

I am fine. Esme is just overreacting, as usual. Yes, I totally beat the crap out of all three of them. I miss you too, Dad, a lot. I don't think I've told you or Mom this enough but I love you. Be careful, ok?

Edward.

P.S. Tell Mom that Esme has a new friend, too. HIS name is Carlisle.

I smirked to myself as I sent the email to my father. My mother would be so thrilled to hear about Esme's new friend. That should teach her to narc on me. I closed my laptop and headed into the backroom. I quickly showered and got ready for school. I grabbed my backpack and headed out to the living room where Esme was waiting for me.

She ignored me as we headed down to the car. We climbed in and headed off to school. I climbed out of the car without saying a word to her. Two could play at that game. I saw Bella practically jump out of a shiny, black Mercedes like it was on fire. I chuckled inwardly as I fell into step with her.

"Carlisle?" I asked.

"Yes," grumbled Bella, "I think the asshole is getting some kind of sick pleasure from embarrassing me."

"Esme does too," I said.

We headed into school and headed down to the hall to our lockers. Mike, Tyler, and Eric were standing with Jessica and Lauren. Mike had a black eye and a broken nose. Tyler had a couple of bruises on his jaw while Eric had two black eyes from when I head butted him.

"Gee, Newton, that nose looks painful," quipped Bella. "Better not take anymore balls to the face."

"Guess you and Yorke are shit out of luck for your morning blowjob, Crowley," I added. "I'm sure Newton will make it up to you later."

Bella and I just laughed as they slammed their lockers shut and stormed off. I pulled my books out of my locker and headed off to my first class. Jessica came in and sat down next to me but she didn't say anything, which I found refreshing. Class flew by quickly. As soon as the bell rang, Jessica was out of her seat and out the door. I made my way down the hall to my history class and took my seat next to Ben.

"Hey, how's the jaw?" asked Ben.

"Hurt like a son of a bitch," I chuckled.

"Mr. Masen, am I going to have to keep reminding you that language like that isn't acceptable in my classroom?" asked Mr. Taylor.

"No, sir," I said.

"I certainly hope not," sighed Mr. Taylor.

"So, anyway, the jaw fucking hurts, huh?" asked Ben, ignoring the glare from Mr. Taylor.

"Yep," I said.

"Where did you learn to fight like that?" asked Ben.

"My dad," I said.

"Ok, since Mr. Masen and Mr. Cheney seem to enjoy polluting the air with their vulgar language, why don't we start the day off with a pop quiz?" asked Mr. Taylor, smirking at me and Ben. Everyone groaned and muttered under their breath. "Don't blame me, kids. Blame the potty mouth twins back there."

Everyone turned and glared at me and Ben, who was suppressing his laughter. I had to bit the inside of my cheek not to bust out laughing. Just what I needed more enemies here at this school. The entire hour was filled with death stares and unspoken warnings from everyone, but Ben. He seemed to be enjoying the aggression being slung at us. I didn't really care either. When the bell finally rang, Ben stood up and let out a hearty laugh.

"That was certainly one of the most entertaining classes I've ever had," laughed Ben. "Goddamn, Edward, things have gotten exciting since you got here."

"Mr. Cheney, using language like that makes you sound unintelligent," grumbled Mr. Taylor.

"Well, sir, I don't really care if I sound smart or not," smirked Ben.

"Obviously," muttered Mr. Taylor, dryly.

Ben just laughed as he headed off to his next class. He sure didn't seem to care about pissing teachers off. I liked him more and more. I gathered my stuff and headed down to my next class, ignoring the remarks from my fellow classmates about the pop quiz. It wasn't even hard.

The rest of the morning went by pretty quickly and before I knew it, it was time for lunch. I made my way down the hall and saw Bella waiting for me by my locker. She looked up and smiled at me, a big beautiful smile.

"I hear you and Ben are the asses responsible for our pop quiz in history," said Bella.

"Guilty," I sighed, shaking my head as I threw my books in my locker. "Mr. Taylor doesn't seem to like mine and Ben's vocabulary."

"Oh, I see," smiled Bella. "He told me when I said that Hitler was nothing more than a and I quote 'A motherfucking baby with a stick up his ass', that I was ignorant and unimaginative."

"Hmm," I said as Bella and I headed down to the cafeteria. "He called me and Ben unintelligent."

"I could have told him that," scoffed Bella.

I rolled my eyes at her as we headed in. We grabbed some lunch and headed outside to sit with Ben, Angela, Garrett, and Kate. I could tell Bella wasn't one hundred percent comfortable sitting with them but they were nice kids and it would be good for us to have other people to talk to.

"What's up, Eddie," said Garrett, nodding his head at me.

"Edward, not Eddie, Garry," I snapped.

"Point Edward," smirked Kate, looking from me to Bella. "What are you guys doing tonight?"

"I don't know," muttered Bella, shrugging her shoulders.

"Big party down at First Beach," smiled Kate. "You two should come."

"Maybe," I said.

"Yeah, maybe," agreed Bella.

Ben, Angela, Garrett, and Kate spent the rest of lunch trying to convince me and Bella that we should go to that party. No matter how many times we told them we would think about it, they wouldn't drop it. Bella gave me several looks that clearly said that is why she doesn't have friends. Which I replied back with a look that said I know, I'm sorry.

Finally the bell rang ending lunch. Bella and I quickly escaped the constant nagging from others and headed down to Biology. The rest of the day went quickly and relatively smoothly. Everyone seemed to be content on ignoring both me and Bella, which made us both very happy.

As soon as the final bell rang, Bella and I headed out to meet Esme at the car. She came out a few minutes later and climbed into the car, completely ignoring us both. Bella shot me a look but I just shook my head. This was my problem with Esme and not hers, no matter what Esme thought.

A few minutes later, Esme pulled the car up in front of the gym and the three of us got out. We went inside and found Carlisle, Emmett, and Jasper talking to a tall man with dark curly hair and brown eyes. Bella stopped in her tracks and gasped. He looked up at her and smiled.

"Bella," he simply said.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" asked Bella, stepping closer to me.